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Hey, I still have my TH-58PZ700U and it's been a great performer, but you're delusional if you think that "nothing compares" to five year old plasmas. I've bought two more plasmas since my TH-58PZ700U (a TC-P65S2 and a TC-P65ST50) and each one significantly outperforms my TH-58PZ700U at almost half the price (my 58" was $3800 and my 65" sets were each $2000). Higher-line models (like the GT and VT series Panasonic plasmas) would perform even better.

If it's all the same to you, I'll remain delusional and save some $$. To each their own opinion and IMHO, I've seen nothing out there recently that I find more appealing than my PZ700U's. When you consider sound as part of the equation, I've indeed seen nothing that compares to the sound on the PZ700U series. To have a set with good sound in a room where an external sound system is not an option, it matters.

If it's all the same to you, I'll remain delusional and save some $$. To each their own opinion and IMHO, I've seen nothing out there recently that I find more appealing than my PZ700U's. When you consider sound as part of the equation, I've indeed seen nothing that compares to the sound on the PZ700U series. To have a set with good sound in a room where an external sound system is not an option, it matters.

If you like your PZ700U that's great, but don't think for a minute that it's picture quality is comparable to the 2008 and newer models because it falls very short in every picture quality category. When i set up my next door neighbor's new PZ85U in 2008 i was impressed with how much brighter and blacker it was then my beloved PZ700U and i suddenly felt a little deflated. I almost bought it from her when she moved. Later i bought a G10 and moved the PZ700U to a bedroom and the G10 kills it. And now when i compare my GT50 to my creaky old PZ700U it makes me want to get rid of the PZ700U because it looks dark and dull and lifeless and washed out compared to the GT50 Plasma has improved greatly since 2007.

But yeah, the PZ700U has great speakers and is only rivaled by the VT50

...When you consider sound as part of the equation, I've indeed seen nothing that compares to the sound on the PZ700U series.....

The four speaker setup that is part of this model's strength also had it fair share of complaints as can be found in this thread. Lots of complaints that they rattled.
I like base, and if I cranked up the sound they did just that.... rattle!
Today there are lots of choices for external sound systems that are small and convenient. If I had room for my 42 I would keep it as its perfect but I am looking forward to my GT50.

They lose brightness over time. Just crank it up a little and will see a big difference.

I did. Contrast is at 100% - i have the screen as bright as it will go and it's screen brightness still pales in comparison to my other three Plasmas, including my older 2005 PX50U. The PZ700U series is the dimmest Plasma that Panasonic has ever made and that dimness was the biggest source of complaints when this TV was first released. I know, i was one of the complainers

^^ Something wrong all along then. My 58" has gotten plenty of use in a bright room and still looks great after a slight bump setting it to standard levels using forum software.

I agree, mine has always been plenty bright over the years. I normally watch in cimena mode even during daylight hours sometimes switching to the brighter Standard Mode but usually staying in cinema. I did get it ISF calibrated by Chad B. from Ohio so maybe that made a difference too.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I didn't mean to indicate that I want to compare the current plasmas to current LEDs. I meant to say I want to compare my 2007 50pz700u (definitely not in the stores) to the 2012 Samsung 40" LED we just bought. I'm curious if today's crop of LEDs are basically better in contrast than our 2007 plasmas.

I haven't checked the calibration on the plasma in a while. If it does loose brightness over time, I should definitely re-run my tests. Good advice.

You can alleviate the low light output problem in cinema, by increasing the all drive in the service menu, then calibrating grayscale. Other than black levels not as good as the VT50, my 58PZ700 performs like a champ, and visitors constantly comment how good it looks.

I have a 58PZ700U, and I need to redo my setup. Right now I have PS3 optical audio going directly to my receiver for 5.1 sound. What I want to do is output PS3 HDMI (audio and video) directly to the TV, then run optical audio back to my receiver. But the manual is unclear on whether the optical will output 5.1 sound with this setup, Does anyone know the answer?

I have a 58PZ700U, and I need to redo my setup. Right now I have PS3 optical audio going directly to my receiver for 5.1 sound. What I want to do is output PS3 HDMI (audio and video) directly to the TV, then run optical audio back to my receiver. But the manual is unclear on whether the optical will output 5.1 sound with this setup, Does anyone know the answer?

Very late to the party here, but I just picked up a free TH-50PZ700U to replace an old CRT in the master bedroom. Tweaked the settings to match a very old CNET review, hooked it up to DirecTV using HDMI, and it looks great for a nearly 6 year old TV! It doesn't seem to sync up at 1080p with the DirecTV box, but that's no biggie given the limited content at that resolution.

The only issues are that the TV didn't come with a stand, and there are a few scratches in the coating and/or screen. The TV is thick enough to stand up on its own, and the scratches aren't visible from viewing distance, so no complaints, especially for the price!

Haven't read all 10,000+ posts, but is there an easy way to check the number of usage hours on these sets? Just curious to see how used & abused the set is.

[EDIT] Figured out how to get into the service menu to check the usage. Looks like it has 20,197 hours and 588 power cycles, so it's very much used & abused. The set came out of a corporate conference room, so it was probably left powered up for days on end. No sign of burn-in, and the picture's still decent, but not sure how much more life the set has left in it.

So we've owned our 42pz700u since 2007 and love it but in August(2013) we got seven blinking lights. I called Panasonic (187795VIERA) on a whim hoping they'd give me some info on what the problem was and who to contact about repair. I was shocked to find out they were extending our warranty and the repair would be covered at NO cost to us. They made the appointment for Barrett's Antenna in Carol Stream to come and pick the the TV that Friday. There was some back and forth between Panasonic, myself, and Barrett's about what was covered but Panasonic said they would cover all the cost, including for Barrett's to pick up and deliver the repaired TV. It's been over a week since we've got the TV back and we've had no issues. Panasonic won customers for life because of how we were treated during this whole process. Barrett's also did an outstanding job and was understanding when we were having miss-communications with Panasonic about payment.

I doubt that everyone would get such assistance from Panasonic. But it's good to know they might be willing to step up and fix an old set like this.

That said, ours is still going strong. Still the main "Movie" TV in our home. Still love it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumbyspw

So we've owned our 42pz700u since 2007 and love it but in August(2013) we got seven blinking lights. I called Panasonic (187795VIERA) on a whim hoping they'd give me some info on what the problem was and who to contact about repair. I was shocked to find out they were extending our warranty and the repair would be covered at NO cost to us. They made the appointment for Barrett's Antenna in Carol Stream to come and pick the the TV that Friday. There was some back and forth between Panasonic, myself, and Barrett's about what was covered but Panasonic said they would cover all the cost, including for Barrett's to pick up and deliver the repaired TV. It's been over a week since we've got the TV back and we've had no issues. Panasonic won customers for life because of how we were treated during this whole process. Barrett's also did an outstanding job and was understanding when we were having miss-communications with Panasonic about payment.

10 months since my last post and my 58PZ700U still sweet as new , will be 6 years old in January. It gets a lot of use too...every day at least for a few hours...my main TV and movie watching flat panel.

Has anyone ever replaced the board with the hdmi inputs before? My hdmi inputs got fried the other day but the other inputs are fine so I switched over to component for the time being. I googled online and it seems I need to replace the following: PANASONIC TH-58PZ700U MAIN BOARD TNPA4131.

But I can't see the hdmi inputs on an image of that main board. Is that what I need though?

Has anyone ever replaced the board with the hdmi inputs before? My hdmi inputs got fried the other day but the other inputs are fine so I switched over to component for the time being. I googled online and it seems I need to replace the following: PANASONIC TH-58PZ700U MAIN BOARD TNPA4131.

But I can't see the hdmi inputs on an image of that main board. Is that what I need though?

Aukevin
I have the same problem...I saw an image of the main board and did not see the hdmi inputs. How do u know you have to change the main board

I realize this is an old thread and an even older TV, but I thought I'd check if anyone has been seeing this as well. Recently I've been hearing a high pitched buzzing/ringing sound that seems to start after the tv is on for a few minutes. It does seem more noticeable when high contrast images are on screen, but it's not consistent. Has anyone else had issues with this? Other than that, this tv has been an absolute champ for the 7+ years (holy crap) that I've had it and it's still being used at least an hour daily. Picture quality is still excellent.

I can't find a reason to get rid of my 58" pz700u. I'd love to upgrade to a 65" LED but this set still performs quite well. My living room is very dark to begin with so I think that helps combat the natural decline in brightness that happens over time.... in fact i fought the urge to crank up the brightness when i first got the set and I've still been happy with the settings even today...

has anyone ever measured the energy usage on these sets and compared it to a modern LED? I have my set on usually 2-3 hours a day... If there was a significant energy savings that could be had by going LED i'd consider it... my electric bill is just "too damn high"

I have a 50PZ700U, that I have loved over the years and debated about upgrading to the VT/ZT series and then of course missed the boat. I looked at all the latest screens out there from the Samsung plasmas to the OLED and nothing has impressed me as much as the VT/ZT plasmas yet (I may of course be biased with my Viera coloured glasses). I have come across a brand new 65VT60 now and have a couple of questions:

1. would like to know if anyone out there has upgraded from the PZ700 series to the VT series and how much of an improvement there is.

2. would it be foolish to upgrade to this screen with all the 4K talk out there